At Chase's house.
Chase and Dark Magician Girl stood by the window, watching as Lucy—radiating tangible resentment—gradually disappeared into the distance. They exchanged smiles.
"Lucy really is more cute when she's full of this kind of energy."
Chase sighed deeply. "I guess I just can't handle seeing girls cry."
Dark Magician Girl leaned on the windowsill, tilting her head, simply gazing at Chase.
"So Master made her angry instead." She murmured.
That pink dumbbell had originally been meant as a gift. She never expected Chase to suddenly change his mind and ask for that insignificant amount of money.
—As the keeper of Chase's finances, she knew exactly how much money he had.
"Haha, but you went along with it too." Chase laughed.
He naturally didn't care about Lucy's money. At that moment, this approach could help her snap out of her sadness in the shortest time.
"Well, you are my Master." Dark Magician Girl smiled softly.
After hearing Lucy's story, she'd gained a deeper understanding of this usually optimistic, spit-loving girl.
"Don't put that blame on me. I didn't force you."
"Speaking of which, you must have been tempted by Lucy's sexy pose earlier, right?"
"Who knows~"
"Hmph! I'm angry now. If Master coaxes me, maybe I might barely warm your bed."
"Listen to you—trying to have your cake and eat it too."
"No wonder Lucy called you a dead card freak! Die!!"
THUD!
Watching the girl dissolve into specks of light, Chase rubbed the lump on his head and sighed helplessly: Life's tough...
The next day.
Lucy, lying in bed, suddenly opened her eyes and gazed confusedly at the ceiling.
Perhaps influenced by Chase's words last night, she'd just had a dream. In it, Chase transformed into a giant monster and punched the Heartfilia Castle, along with its backyard (and back mountain), flying away with one blow. Then the Magic Council locked him up in prison.
And then... the Magic Council branch also flew away, and Chase stood atop the ruins like a demon king, laughing heartily...
"How terrifying. Good thing it was just a dream."
Lucy rubbed her head, slapped her cheeks with both hands, and regained her usual energy and vitality.
"I need to find a commission today. At this rate, I might not even be able to pay rent."
Lucy rolled out of bed, muttering quietly as she walked out of her room and into the living room.
Then she saw a naked pervert sitting on her sofa like a king!
"Yo, Lucy. Good morning."
Gray greeted her, lifting the pink dumbbell in his hand with surprise. "How unexpected. I didn't know you had such strange hobbies."
"Good morning my ass! Chase shoved that on me! It cost me 28,000 Jewels! 28,000!"
Snapping out of it, Lucy transformed into a jagged teeth demon and demanded angrily, "Never mind the illegal entry—could you please not strip in my house?!"
"Huh? No, I took my clothes off before coming in." Gray explained seriously.
"Is that the point I'm trying to make?! If you've got nothing, get out!!"
"I came because I do have something."
Gray slowly set down the pink dumbbell and looked at the enraged Lucy. "Remember when we were teamed up and Erza accepted Natsu's challenge? They're about to start now."
"Not that it matters—Natsu's just going to get instantly defeated anyway."
"The real deal is that Chase and Erza are also going to fight. This is a rare opportunity to see an S-Class clash!"
Erza and Chase?!
Lucy instantly perked up. Forgetting all about Gray's illegal entry, she immediately changed, washed up, and headed out.
Friendly sparring between S-Classes not only improved both fighters' combat experience but also allowed observing guild members to gain insights.
Thus, Makarov not only didn't stop it—he strongly approved.
Acting as temporary host, he led the entire guild to the outskirts far from town—Magnolia couldn't handle Chase and Erza going all out.
As for Natsu? No one cared. Not even his best buddy Happy.
By the time Lucy and Gray arrived at the suburban battlefield, it was already densely packed with people—familiar faces and many unfamiliar ones.
Fairy Tail's size wasn't small. Besides core members, there were numerous peripheral members.
Having only joined a few days ago, Lucy naturally couldn't recognize everyone.
At the center of the plain, cleared far back from the crowd, Chase and Erza stood facing each other from a distance. Both emanated faint but oppressive magical power.
Makarov stood at the front of the crowd, about to announce the official start, when Natsu suddenly jumped out and charged between Chase and Erza.
"Wait! I was first!"
"Hey! Chase! Step aside! If anyone's fighting, it's me first!"
Watching the extremely arrogant Natsu, the guild members shook their heads and sighed.
Macao: "Is he an idiot? Courage has limits! This isn't some daily brawl!"
Wakaba: "Want to start a betting pool? Though the odds would probably be pretty touching."
Cana: "Gulp gulp... Idiot. Wait until after Erza and Chase fight. Then you might have a 0.1% chance."
Laki: "The swords flying out of Natsu's head are really something."
"Sharp... you mean his courage?"
Hearing such a strange description, Lucy couldn't help but unleash her rant soul.
"Looks like no one's betting on Natsu. But he's a member of the strongest team—the gap can't be that big, right?" She frowned slightly.
"Strongest team? Who came up with such a boring title?" Gray beside her looked quite disdainful.
Hearing such a blunt comment, Mira, who had been smiling, froze instantly. Mortified, she covered her face and cried.
"It's Mira!" Gray startled.
"How mean, Gray. You made her cry." Lucy looked disgusted.
Panicking, Gray scrambled to comfort her with clumsy words.
Over there, the impatient Natsu had already clenched his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist and charged at Erza, rolling waves of heat trailing behind him.
Erza calmly sidestepped, shifting her body while throwing a punch that landed squarely on Natsu's abdomen.
Natsu instantly lay flat, a white soul floating from his mouth as he raised a white flag high.
"Really, Natsu. Fine, I'll fight you first then."
Erza withdrew her fist and nodded seriously.
"Aye! It's already over!"
Happy raised his hand high, stirring the pot.
Soon, the unconscious Natsu was dragged away.
Once again, only Chase and Erza remained on the field.
"Haha! Knocking Natsu out with one punch—that's our Erza." Chase laughed.
"Normally, I wouldn't mind playing with Natsu a bit. But my opponent today is you. If I don't conserve my magic power, I'll probably lose badly."
Erza calmly spoke her true thoughts.
A year ago, she'd fought Chase at full strength. They'd been almost evenly matched, neither gaining much advantage.
That was precisely why she'd later told Mira that she might not be a match for Chase.
Not because Chase had held back back then—but because his growth rate was simply terrifying.
When he'd first joined the guild, he'd even been overpowered by Natsu and Gray!
Now, a year later, facing Chase again—even though she'd also grown—Erza truly wasn't absolutely confident.
Of course, the Fairy Queen's overwhelming emotion right now was still surging battle intent!
"Come, Chase! Show me how much you've grown this year!"
"That's exactly what I want to know, Erza!"
BOOM!
At almost the same instant, Chase and Erza erupted with terrifying magical power.
The S-Class versus S-Class battle had begun!